Editing Missiology (section)

== History ==
Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was the Scottish missionary [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]] who first developed a systematic theory of mission and was appointed in 1867 to the first chair in missiology in the world, the new chair of Evangelistic Theology in [[New College, Edinburgh]]. The chair was short-lived and closed after Duff's departure.<ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Andrew F.|last=Walls|author-link=Andrew F. Walls|chapter=Alexander Duff|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=187–188|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA187}}</ref>

[[Gustav Warneck]] is often recognized as the founder of Protestant missiology as a discipline. He founded the first scientific missionary periodical in 1874, ''Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift'', and was appointed the chair of missionary science at the University of Halle in Germany in 1897. His three-volume work on Protestant mission theory ''Evangelische Missionlehre'' and his survey of the history of Protestant missionary work were extremely important for the young discipline.<ref name="kollman"/><ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Hans|last=Kasdorf|chapter=Gustav Warneck, 1834–1910: Founder of the Scholarly Study of Missions|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=373–382|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA373}}</ref>

Influenced by Warneck's work, [[Catholic]] [[church history|church historian]] {{ill|Joseph Schmidlin|de|Joseph Schmidlin}} began lecturing in missiology in 1910 at the [[University of Münster|University of Munster]] and was appointed to the first chair of Catholic missiology at the same university in 1914.<ref>{{cite dictionary|first=Karl|last=Muller|chapter=Joseph Schmidlin, 1876–1944: Pioneer of Catholic Missiology|editor-first=Gerald H.|editor-last=Anderson|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1999|pages=402–409|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA402}}.</ref>

Since the 1950s, missiology has generally been discussed within the theological framework of the ''[[missio Dei]]'', the "Mission of God." This has shifted the discussion away from "missions" in the plural, an exclusive focus on the evangelizing of the non-Christian in overseas contexts, to "mission" in the singular, a broader topic including a multiplicity of God's activities in the world. Hence, "''Mission is the participation of the people of God in God's action in the world.'' The theological and critical reflection about mission is called ''missiology''." {{emphasis in original}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cardoza-Orlandi |first1=Carlos F. |title=Mission: An Essential Guide |date=2002 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-1-4267-6328-1 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBaKaNjaQx0C&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref>